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A montage of children receiving care at the STRIDE community clinic at Smoky Hill High School
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Meeting Students Where They Are: Supporting Student Health with School-Based Care

Interactive Tool Shows Need Across Colorado Schools and Allows Users to Explore More Data

Key Takeaways

  • School-based health centers are an important part of the health care delivery system, serving many children and families that might not have access anywhere else.
  • Metro Denver schools show stark differences in need, with areas of high need largely clustered east of the I-25 corridor.
  • Schools in rural areas of the state, including the San Luis Valley, show higher need and have limited access to existing school-based health centers.
November 21, 2024

School-based health centers (SBHCs) are health care facilities located inside a school or on school grounds. They often serve students whose access to health care is limited and are an important component of Colorado’s health care safety net. The interactive tool below features a map of SBHC locations across the state and an assessment of needs by school. The visualization works best on desktop and in full screen.

The Colorado Health Institute created the 2024 School-Based Health Care School Need Index in partnership with the Youth Healthcare Alliance and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. This is an update from previous work completed in January 2021.